What A Daddy Should Do
by writtenbygrace
Summary: "Anyone can be a father, but it takes a real man to be a daddy." -Anonymous. Following Eddie and Patricia through the ups and downs of raising their family! Rated T just in case! I used to by xFabinao
1. Prologue Part One

**A/N: I reviewed on my phone for a while, but quite honestly, I basically fell off the face of the Earth for six weeks. **_**BUT**_** I have an excuse! My internet completely died, and I have absolutely no idea why, but my laptop wasn't accepting any wifi what so ever. Anyway, my dad "fixed" it, only to figure out that he basically installed tons of viruses, and those had to be deleted. Everything was finally fixed tonight, and so hopefully I'm finally back and will be updated as much as possible! I'm sorry for being so silent, the situation **_**killed**_** me.**

**Moving on from that apology/ramble, this is like a sequel to "What A Boyfriend Should Do." Through my other fanfics, I've found that I prefer both one shots and future Peddie, so I decided to mix the two, and after the first two intro chapters of this (more like a lengthy prologue, I guess), I'll be focusing on Patricia and Eddie as parents, but mainly Eddie trying his hardest to be the father that his dad never was. I basically just googled 'what a good father should do,' and came up with a mixed set of prompts, so this story should be a lot more free and open for any prompts – so if you have any cute family ideas for one shots, I'd be happy to take them into consideration!**

**I applaud you if you've read this much – even though it was mainly worthless rambling. Anyway, I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis**

***o***

_**Prologue**_

Patricia found that as she got older, her anxiety built. Lying, sneaking around, graduation speeches? She didn't care – those she flew through like she was on top of the world. Her wedding, though, that had been one thing. A time where she wasn't talking at all; that had made her exceptionally nervous. Every eye had been switching her movements, not listening and contemplating everything that came out of her mouth, but judging each step she took, each smile she flashed each flower petal that had accidentally fallen from her bouquet. She had hated that feeling of all eyes fixated on her - not even the knowledge that Eddie had been standing patiently and proudly at the end of the aisle had been reassuring to her. Her heart had thudded so loudly that day.

And yet, nothing compared to what she was feeling _now._

Swarms of butterflies rose and died down, her throat clenched tightly and then took a painstakingly slow time to ease up and allow her to breathe. Her head spun, her footsteps echoed down the hallway that she was pacing in front of, killing the faint sound of the tea whistle from the kitchen. Seconds ticked by so slowly that Patricia felt like hours had passed by the time half a minute was up. Curiosity was stabbing at her, but the idea of what would happen in the end was what clogged her mind. She outweighed the two seemingly possible outcomes, and found that she would have an array of feelings and sea of emotions either way.

Somehow, someway, in between her pacing, her thudding heart, and her pulsing headache at the thoughts running through her mind, she found a way to be on alert. Her ears perked up at the sound of footsteps on her staircase, each old stair moaning under the weight of whomever was staggering upstairs, closer and closer. Her first thought was to run into the bathroom, which she was directly in front of, but she reminded herself of the awful lock that adorned the handle and knew that that would be of no help to her. Instead, she backed down the dark hallway silently and carefully, feeling her nervousness boil again. She had always been paranoid about intruders at night, especially since Rufus. The second that her foot was in the doorway of the room that she shared with Eddie, the timer, that was set to alert her of five minutes being over, went off from downstairs. Whoever was on the staircase jumped, spilled _something, _and then spewed out a line of curses under his breath. Patricia's heart thudded more at the relief that instantly flowed through her the second that she heard his American accent.

Letting out an uncharacteristic sigh of relief, she pushed herself forward and ran down the hall, towards Eddie who opened his arms to her the second that he heard her footsteps. She collapsed into his arms and let out a sniffle that he rarely heard. "Missed you too, babe," he smirked into her hair, running his hand down her back and pulling her closer to his chest.

"Oh my God, you jerk." Patricia pulled away, dried her eyes with the back of her hand and then promptly whacked his chest repetitively. "You nearly gave me a heart-attack! What the hell was that?"

"I'm sorry," Eddie held up his hands in pure surrender, crossing his finger that this wouldn't be the start of a fresh, blossoming, disagreement. "When I got home the tea kettle was about to explode, and the lights were off, I figured you were upstairs asleep, or something."

"Well I'm _not,_" Patricia spat dryly. "See you dropped my cup of tea as well, Weasel."

"_My_ cup of tea, excuse you Yacker, go get your own." Eddie cracked a smile, trying to lighten the tension, and leaned in to at least kiss her forehead. She mumbled something inaudible under her breath, and pushed past him, carefully stepping over the puddle of tea and shattered tea mug on the third step from the top of the stair case. Eddie let out a huff of annoyance and dodged the mess as well, joining her silently.

She jabbed the off button on the oven timer to stop it from incessantly reminding them that five minutes was up. "You know," Eddie began, taking a seat and observing her as she moved around the kitchen, picking up any piece of trash in sight, and ignoring him to her best ability. "That timer's what startled me. What's it set for anyway?"

Patricia ignored him after shooting a glare in his direction, and then she grabbed hand towels and started towards the stairs to begin cleaning up his mess. "Why are you giving me the silent treatment?" Eddie sighed, defeatedly. "I didn't _mean_ to scare you like that." he ran his fingers through his blond hair, disheveled from a long day at work, as she shoved past him, a towel sopped from spilt tea in one hand, and another red rag, holding shattered pieces of the mug, in her other hand. "Guess what tomorrow is?" Eddie threw the question at her, although he doubted she would know. "It'll be eight years since we met!" He groaned when she shrugged off the news, and pushed further, "remember, Yacker? You ran into me in the lounge, insulted me?" He let out a nervous chuckle – why use the nickname if it didn't apply? "You don't?"

She turned to scowl at him again. "I can't believe that you remember something stupid like that." Eddie furrowed his eyebrows at her comment. Stupid? Didn't girls find it romantic and cute when guys remembered stuff like that? Not Patricia.

"What is your problem tonight?"

"You weren't supposed to come home for another hour." She reminded him, as if that explained everything.

"Well I'm sorry that I came home early to see you," Eddie rolled his eyes. Then, although he knew that it was unnecessary, he added, "Seriously, though, I'm starting to regret it. You're acting like such a child."

"Don't call me that," she sneered. As always, Eddie shrugged off her opinions on the nicknames that he threw around, and continued on with his right in the argument. With the mess cleaned, Patricia sat down at the stools set up by their kitchen island with a fresh cup of tea sandwiched between her palms.

"What were you doing up stairs anyway?" Her husband interrogated with seriousness in his eyes that Patricia couldn't resist. She _wanted_ to tell him. She needed consolation; she should have known that she would need someone to talk to the second that she thought something was off. But she didn't want that person to be Eddie.

"I was going to the bathroom," she simply added to the truth. She_ had_ gone to the bathroom, but that was roughly seven minutes before he decided to enter their home, unannounced. Eddie seemed to buy that part, but she knew that, as always, his wheels were turning – the past leader of Sibuna always fit together pieces of a puzzle strategically, laying out each separate fit and then questioning someone until he had and endless amount of answers.

"So," Eddie pushed further, just as Patricia knew he would, "what was the timer doing?"

"I estimated the time that the tea would be done. I was a bit off, I suppose," Patricia waved off the lie as if it was nothing, hoping that her feign for innocence would be bought by him.

"So why didn't you get the tea when it was done earlier; the timer didn't go off until after I got home." She should've known that he knew her too well, and investigated too far to possibly stop there.

"Hey, Eddie?" Patricia shoved away his question as if it had no relevance, and she continued with her own urge for interrogations. "What would you think of a family?" Dammit. Slip of the tongue, mindless, yet verbalized thoughts, and suddenly everything was out.

"A… family?" Eddie leaned forward, mind racing, reading her every expression, and knowing that she was being down-right serious.

"Uh… yeah," Patricia took a few breaths, regained her composure, and barreled further, ready to make up for her mistake. "You know; what kind of parents would we be?"

Eddie exhaled deeply and slumped back in his chair, evidently thinking over his answer." You'd be a great mom, for starters," Eddie smiled lightly when he noticed her perk up at his words. "And we would make the hottest kids _ever._" She was used to his stupid comments on their attractiveness, but Patricia noticed him suddenly stiffen with momentousness, which didn't normally happen. "I don't know," he let out a sigh, "I mean, if I was a dad, I just, I wouldn't want to do what my dad did – walk out, without answers, feel overwhelmed and incapable of handling a child."

Patricia took each one of his words, turned it over, sunk his meaning and thoughts into her head, but still took what he said as her best escape. "Would you leave _me_?"

"What?" Eddie sat forward, obviously dumbfounded that she would ever think of something like that.

"What if I didn't want a family, or couldn't have one," Patricia took her time, but let her initial question escape her lips. "Would you leave me, if it was just me – no kids- and still feel regret?"

"Baby," Eddie took her in, unsure of what to make of this Patricia, the angry, upset, and nervous sides of her all mixed up into one giant emotion of vulnerability. "I would never leave you." He stood up, wrapped his arms around her waist, and scooted her over so that they were sharing a seat, and she was pressed against his chest, his head resting against hers. "I would never, ever, leave you," he promised, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

The two soaked up the silence that surrounded them, Eddie anxious with the questions that he wanted to ask her, but didn't. They stayed wrapped in each other's arms, confessions and thoughts on the tips of both of their tongues, but sealed back by their dry lips, until their eyelids drooped, and Eddie finally had to hold her in his arms, and bring her upstairs. He laid her down before merely loosening his tie and pulling it over his head. He then unbuttoned the very top of his work shirt, slipped off his shoes, didn't bother to change out of his work clothes further, and then Eddie collapsed onto the plush mattress, his mind settled on the auburn woman sleeping contently next to him. What was up with her?

***o***

At four in the morning a nauseating sensation took over Patricia, and she shot out of bed, quickly darting to the bathroom. Eddie was completely exhausted, and didn't show up to hold her hair back, and rub her back comfortingly, like he generally did when she wasn't feeling well. Tiredly, Patricia wiped her mouth, flushed the toilet, and brushed her teeth, before placing her palms onto the counter, and staring at her reflection in the old, large, wall mirror. Tired circles decorated the underneath of her eyes, and her sweat pants and old t-shirt only added to how disgusting she felt. Soaking herself up, she managed to lay her eyes on a flash of white resting in the corner of the sink counter.

Right.

Everything from earlier flowed back; leaving work at lunch to pick up a few pregnancy tests, spending hours trying to figure out if she should tell anyone before finding out, and finally deciding against it. Brewing a pot of tea, running upstairs to take the test, and hoping to figure out the answer five minutes later. She had planned to spend half of her time thinking over what would happen if she was expecting a kid, and what would happen if she wasn't. How she would feel, how Eddie would react, what they would do. She remembered being interrupted by him, her heart had nearly stopped at the thought that she was going to be murdered by an intruder. She vaguely remembered her own ignorance, and then how stupid she was to hint to him, afterwards, that she could be pregnant. She remembered falling asleep, desperately wanting to tell Eddie everything, ask him to follow her to the bathroom, and find out together.

But she couldn't help it anymore. She couldn't wait any longer. Without even registering what was happening, her fingers flew to the piece of plastic, and her eyes scanned over it before she could stop herself. _Pregnant._

***o***

**A/N: Obviously prologues are supposed to be a lot shorter, but in retrospect, I really just want to introduce the story, and characters, before I begin with any "Daddy" prompts. Besides, I'm going to have to work myself out of making things incredibly cheesy and Peddie, and focus more on their family life. That'll happen… eventually. But for now, I'm developing the older Eddie and Patricia, and their family will start to progress soon. I'm really excited to hear all of your thoughts – any feedback is perfectly acceptable! **

**Thank you, I love you guys! =)**

**~Grace **

**(P.S. I know that I've said this too much, but Happy –technically belated- Birthday, Emma!)**


	2. Prologue Part Two

**A/N: Thank you so, so much for your comments from everyone – you guys make me smile so widely, your comment are always so sweet, and definitely make my day!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis**

***o***

Patricia found herself exactly where she had been twelve hours ago; pacing in front of the upstairs bathroom. This time though, instead of waiting on the pregnancy test, it was in between her fingertips, and she was tapping it against her left palm, nervously. She wasn't going to recite her lines in her head – she had always had the upper-hand when it came to making up _something_ to say on the spot, and this time wasn't to be the exclusion. Truthfully, thought, she was just growing impatient. The news had sunk in overnight; she was going to have a baby. Hers and Eddies. She would love it, Eddie would love it, it would love them. She just needed to get the news out.

Truthfully, she wasn't prepared for any reaction from him other than glee. She figured that she wouldn't have to build up any walls to protect herself from any discouraging thoughts from the father-to-be himself. Eddie would embrace it, and accept the fact, happily, go along with her mindless snaps and annoying cravings for nine months, and as Eddie always did, he would barrel through tough times with a smile. That was something that she loved about him; she could rely on his generally cheery attitude and forgiving nature to make things right again.

That was why Patricia wasn't nervous about how she would get the news out. Finally feeling completely prepared, and anxious to tell him the news, the red-head took a deep breath and stopped her pacing, landing herself directly in front of the wooden bathroom door. She stood for a few seconds more, elapsed in the silence, her mind traveling farther and farther away. She jumped, and was directed back to her present situation, when she heard the shower water stop. It was a Wednesday morning, and Eddie was careful to wake up early enough so that he could manage to get a shower, change, spend a long time on his hair, and still eat a full breakfast.

She waited for five minutes longer, and while normally those seconds went by invisibly, this time they dragged on, and she couldn't possibly imagine why he was taking such a long time. Before she could talk herself out of it, Patricia's hand was on the brass handle and she pushed the door open, nearly hitting her husband in the process. Eddie smirked over at her before returning to drying his hair. He was completely ready for work aside the few top buttons of his shirt which allowed the collar to hang open.

"If you were looking to join me in the shower, you missed your chance, babe." He placed a soft kiss on her cheek as he made his way out of the bathroom. "Sorry," he added smugly. Patricia stood there, frozen and disappointed; fear that she thought had been distinguished earlier, slowly beginning to bubble again.

"Eddie, wait." Forcefully and urgently, she grasped onto his wrist with both of her hands, turning him around, pulling him back into the bathroom. She looked over at his expectant eyes, feeling her breath caught in her throat. She scanned his confused face again before deciding to finally spit it out. "I'm pregnant." She breathed the words out, letting out what she assumed was a relieved chuckle -from the way that it sounded- in the process.

"Pregnant?" The words sounded foreign on his tongue - he had never pictured what sort of reaction he was _supposed_ to have to such sudden and serious news. He found himself stretching a smile across his face when she nodded. The warm embrace, from her husband which followed, washed all of Patricia's distressing thoughts away in an instance. She latched her hands together, holding onto him tightly in pure delight and relief. She rested her chin against his shoulder, soaking up the happiness that she had predicted earlier, but couldn't seem to imagine until it happened.

When he released her, Eddie planted a kiss on her lips, a smile coloring both of their lips afterwards.

"I love you," he sighed, pulling her in again, and pressing another kiss to her hair.

"I love you, too," she replied almost inaudibly, her face buried in his chest.

***o***

Honestly, Eddie _did_ try. He made the biggest efforts he could to put up with Patricia, and he truthfully _attempted_ at reminding himself, as he assumed he was meant to do, that all of the crap he put up with would be worth it in the end.

It didn't work until she was born.

Times when he felt like he would rip his hair out during Patricia's pregnancy slowly became _more _often, not less. He had almost given up several times, thrown down whatever he was doing and quit, but he knew he couldn't. True, the stress was difficult to handle, but he had to cope with the crankier, bossier, bitchier side of Patricia for only a while, and when it was over, he would never have been able to forgive himself if he had walked out. Therefore, he sucked it up.

He asked for advice from his closest friend; Fabian, who had experienced a not-so-amazing-and-sweet Nina only two years earlier. Still, Nina's bad side hadn't even been close to Patricia's normal, _good_ side, and so Fabian's advice for Eddie to remind himself every day that he was a day closer to holding his child, kissing his child, loving his child – didn't come close to helping the stressed-out American.

Eddie _did_ barrel through, he would close his eyes, inhale and exhale through his nose, pinch the bridge of his nose, tap his foot, take Advil for his headaches, prepare dinner and a cup of tea before she requested it, and, still, it didn't always help. It didn't help him feel less irritated when she had woken him up at two in the morning _begging_ for him to find seafood – specifically a restaurant's coconut shrimp. He had sworn under his breath, fumbled out of bed, driven to an all-night super market, bought frozen coconut shrimp, and then microwaved it at Fabian's house. When he had come home with a plastic Tupperware from the annoyed, but understanding, Rutter's house, Patricia had immediately commented, but Eddie promised her that it was the still the same thing. His amazing plan had failed, and Patricia moped for an hour, glaring over at him from the counter. When he finally gave up and went to bed, she had scarfed down the shrimp, not giving a care in the world that they weren't from Red Lobster. It was the smile that graced Eddie's lips when he woke up to her morning sickness, rubbed her back soothingly, and then gone to get her decaffeinated tea from the kitchen, and saw the empty Tupperware, did the American know he would make it through.

She was still Patricia, and he knew she was sensitive. It just took a while for both of them to adjust.

Finally, when she was seven months in, and Eddie felt like he would be able to handle only another two months, the doctor had decided to go over what would happen if the baby was early. She only had two months to go, so Patricia was utterly on alert each time her daughter (they had given up on wanting the gender to be a surprise the second that the offer for them to find out was proposed,) did anything to startle her mother. Eddie knew that it would take a while to adjust to her always-present edginess; waking up nervously at midnight, begging him not to leave to work in case the baby came. Endless annoyances. Using the semi-tolerance that he had built up, the American had kindly reminded his wife that she would knew _exactly_ when she was going into labor.

He figured that his words had soothed her, due to her calm attitude for the next few hours afterwards, until she interrupted an important meeting of his with a call. He had only given her a quick chance to scream "the baby's coming!" before he was rushing out of his office, leaving his co-workers and boss baffled at his sudden urgency to dismiss himself from the crucial meeting. He had barged through the front door of their house, only to find her on the couch, stuffing her face with spoonful's of chocolate ice cream, watching the Animal channel, and _laughing. _He had promptly asked her what was going on, and she innocently replied that it was a false alarm; the baby had merely been kicking and it got her scared.

"What the actual fuck, Patricia?" It was the first time that Eddie had seriously _cursed_ since she was pregnant, and he regretted it the second that the words came out of his mouth. "Did you not _think_ to call me and tell me this?"

His shoulders slumped in disappointment at himself and he let out a shaky breath to control the thousands of emotions running through his system when he looked directly at his wife, tears beginning to well in her eyes. She looked unbelievably vulnerable in the moment; the way that he remembered her looking the night before she told him that she was pregnant. He ran his fingers through his hair, dropped his briefcase to the floor and sunk into their couch next to her, burying his head in his hands. Couples were supposed to be drawn together during their pregnancy, not be pulled farther and farther apart. And Eddie knew that he and Patricia were slowly being yanked apart like glue that finally gave in and lost its stick.

He sat there, for minutes on end, his mind not de-cluttering, but clogging up more. He tried to block out the sniffles that Patricia was making beside him, and when finally they stopped, he was surprised to feel her hand on his back. _He _was supposed to be comforting _her_. Not the other way around. But he accepted it because she was rubbing his back lightly, allowing him to hold on to that little ray of hope that was floating aimlessly in the air; right in front of their eyes.

Truth be told, comfort was thrown around clumsily for the rest of that day. The second that he craned his neck to the left to look her in the eye, she had started crying again, and Eddie, finally releasing everything that he had built up in his recent stress had almost cried, too. They clung onto each other desperately, lovingly, for the first time since she had informed him of her pregnancy. They admitted their wrongs, apologized for their own mistakes, made up for them that afternoon. While everyone in Eddie's office building continued on with their meeting, the normally put together man broke down in front of his wife, and he didn't regret it.

Everything suddenly turned after that point, and he knew that she was trying to make an effort to not be as annoying as he admitted she had been. It wasn't that there weren't moments before that when she hadn't been okay, but Eddie had found himself being horribly emotional in turn and together, those two had created a sea of awkwardness and emotions for the couple for nearly seven months straight, until the sea was parted, and they both struggled to stay strong. But it was easier than either had expected.

***o***

Looking back on it, Eddie could barely remember the stress that he had experienced. He could remember the highlights – there were few, but they were the moments that he thought of whenever it was brought up. Sure, during the most difficult of times, Eddie couldn't imagine a thousand kids possibly making up for Patricia's mood swings and cravings, but only four months later, staring into the eyes of his two-month-old daughter, Eddie knew that it was worth it. Everything they suffered through, and enjoyed together, was nothing compared to the prize they were rewarded with.

Eddie knew that there was no way he would mess up for his daughter, or wife; walk out, leave them abandoned the way that Eric had to him and his own mother. Both of them were too important to suffer that pain, and Eddie knew it. He was absolutely determined to make sure that Ava Miller knew that her daddy loved both her and her mother more than anything else in the entire world.

***o***

**A/N: Admittedly, this chapter **_**was**_** cheesy, but the one-shots are coming in soon, and they will definitely have a more humorous, enjoyable side to them. Until then, let me know what you thought of this! I'm not feeling well, and again, your comments always seem to make my day! Hopefully I'll have more time this weekend to update, though! **

**Love you guys! =)**

**~Grace**


	3. Chapter 1 -Watch Her Carefully-

**A/N: I have to apologize, now, for not giving credit earlier to lalaland123, for suggesting the idea (used in the last chapter) of Patricia calling Eddie, thinking that the baby's coming, but she was only kicking. I hope that it lived up to your expectations. :) Anyway, thank you again for the reviews on the last chapter, they definitely kept me motivated, and I was in a writey mood – so, here, I cranked out 4,000 words! It was definitely fun though! =) **

**Anyway, I have been getting comments about I Can See It Now, and truthfully I was surprised to hear about it at all. However, I am immensely thankful for the kind words about it, and I promise I'll try to get more done on it soon. (As I mentioned earlier, I definitely enjoy one-shots and future fics more, but I did give an AU a try, and I'm still determined to finish it, someway or another.)**

**So I'd say that Ava is roughly 4, maybe 5, months old in this chapter, but most of the chapter is very Patricia oriented. My main goal was to not make this about her, but I've had this idea for a while, and there were some characters that had to be introduced, and that was accomplished. So, either way, I hope that you guys enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis**

***o***

"Open up," Eddie cooed at his giggling daughter, "come on, baby-girl," the father nearly pleaded; his baby voice slowly decreasing in volume and energy. "Sweetie," Eddie whined through clenched teeth. "Avie-Baby, mommy will kill me with this bottle if you don't drink _anything_ before she gets ready."

Her lips stayed sealed, but Ava's green eyes stared up at her dad, as if she was desperately trying to decipher what he was saying. "Okay," Eddie sighed, "you leave me no choice." He smiled right as his fingers were on her small side, tickling her as lightly as possible, and instantly the girl started laughing hysterically. Eddie took the opportunity to place the bottle in her open mouth, and smile triumphantly when she spit up a little milk from the sudden shock of her father's betrayal. She _wasn't_ hungry.

Hot-headedly, much like her mother, the strawberry-blonde girl only took a few swallows every now and then, realizing that _maybe_ she could eat just a _little._ Eddie sighed with relief, wiped her chin, and secured the bottle in Ava's travel bag. They were about to head out on the longest car ride yet, and Eddie knew it would probably be the most treacherous trip ever. Her first trip to Grandma's house. Mrs. Williamson had stopped at absolutely nothing to convince the couple to take the four hour round trip to Liverpool. The first two months, excuses like; "oh you saw her a few weeks ago in the hospital," and "mum, she's just too young and not immune yet," flew by simply. Slowly, thought, the lies that escaped her daughter's lips became less and less frequently, and Deborah grasped onto the best reason yet to have the family visit. Piper was finally back from her the eight month business trip to California that she and her husband had attended, and, the couple still hadn't met their niece.

Eddie had been the one to pick up the phone, the one to finally agree after Deborah's agitating beseeching, and _he_ had been the one forced to break the news to Patricia. God, had she been mad. As if her mother wasn't awful enough, Patricia had complained, Piper would be there with not only more germs, but her perfect movie director of a husband to add to the mess. Eddie knew that Patricia hated it – the fact that Jerald was yelling "action!" while Piper was perfecting each new movie's song track behind the scenes. She tried not to be jealous, but Eddie could tell that she was. He wanted to bring up the fact that the one thing that Piper and Jerald lacked was a beautiful daughter, but that was cheesy, and Patricia would call that before Eddie could even think it. Besides, she didn't need to be aware that he knew of her distaste in her sister's choice of a husband.

Eddie didn't mind it at all, but that was how he always rolled. Maybe, if it was _his_ step-sister, for instance, marrying someone famous, he would be pissed too. But how cool was it to be marriage-related to Jerald James? It was immensely awesome. Besides, Eddie knew that Patricia always disapproved what Piper did because it was always better than what she did, but Eddie was close with Piper, and he knew that everything she did was always without fail, and always had a back-up plan if needed. Marrying someone with such a high priority list certainly would not fail to come along with Piper's very own, metaphorical security package.

***o***

"Patricia?" Eddie called her name again, quickly peeling his eyes off of the road to look at her. "Yacker, she's crying." Eddie enunciated the obvious, carefully snapping his wife back to reality.

"Oh," Patricia sighed, flustered. She turned around, placed her hand on the edge of her daughter's care seat and rocked it forward and backwards slowly, calming the baby with soothing "shhh's," and smiles. Ava's cries receded into choked up sobs until eventually she had fallen asleep. "How much time do we have left?" Patricia asked, turning back around and readjusting her seat belt.

"What; just because she can't talk yet means that _you_ have to fill up the classic child's line?"

"Eddie, I'm being serious."

The American sighed at her disapproval of his joke, and answered her question; twenty minutes. She simply nodded, but Eddie noticed her disappointment. "Was that question because of Ava being cranky or you not wanting to get there so quickly?"

Patricia planted a scowl on her face, crossed her arms and put her back to him, staring out at the road. His question was answered without her talking; she didn't want to get there.

***o***

"Oh my God." Patricia breathed out the first words she had said since she had asked him about the time. Eddie, seemingly startled by her breathless exclamation looked over at her curiously, slowing down the car so that it was barely moving. Ava let out giggle, letting her parent's know that she had also being alerted by her mother's urgent voice. Normally Patricia would have laughed right back at her daughter, commenting on her adorableness. Eddie knew that something was up when the constantly alert and loving mother ignored Ava's noises. "Eddie, I don't think I can do this." She waved her hands in her face frantically, took short, yet deep, breaths, tried to concentrate her eyes on the road, but was glancing nervously over at him, instead.

"You sound like you're going into labor," he joked, careful to make sure that she knew that he was still worried about her somewhat comical actions.

"I'm not joking, I think I'm getting anxiety. I feel light headed-"

"This better not be a play to try and get me to turn around and drive back home so that you don't have to see your mother."

"This is because I _know_ that I have to see my mother!" Patricia cried, running her fingers through her hair. "Don't you remember how much I hate her? How much she hates me? Why did you agree to this? Eddie…"

"Okay, calm down," Eddie placed his hand on her knee the second that she tensed up. Ignoring the fact that they were parked in front of his mother-in-law's large blue house, he turned to her. "I'll be here the whole time, you can take as much care of Ava s you need to for distraction, I'll talk to Jerald and your parents – you focus on Piper, and we can leave whenever you feel like it. Okay?" Patricia nodded, thankful for his words. "Good luck kiss?" Eddie offered, cheekily, surprised, yet delighted, when she acquiesced without complaint. "I've got your back," he reminded her, running a hand down her cheek before they exited the car.

He said he was, but Eddie knew that no one was ever fully prepared to talk for an entire day to hot-headed-full-of-herself Deborah Williamson. And he was truthfully just as nervous as Patricia. He just refused to admit it.

"Well look who it is!" The older woman let out a squee of delight as she rushed down the stairs of her split-level home and threw open the door. "Hello my babies!" Deborah wrapped Patricia in a tight hug, pinched Eddie's cheeks and then immediately pried the carrying crib from Patricia's un-wanting hands. The thing that ticked Patricia off the most was that Ava didn't shed a single tear when she was ripped from her mother's hands and swung up the stairs in a haste. "At least we know she'll let us know when old, crazy, and conceited kidnappers take her from us." Patricia teased quietly to Eddie who let out a chuckle at her words.

"Mum, maybe she wants to be over here-" Patricia was cut off as she emerged up the stairs, bags weighing down her arms.

"Oh hush, Trisha." The grandmother waved her hand in front of her face indignantly, dismissing Patricia's concern. "I was a mother of twice as much trouble with you and your sister; I think I know how to handle Ava better than you do."

"Right," Patricia agreed, holding back her sudden urge to thrash out at her mother, as she took a seat on the couch. Eddie offered her a thumbs-up for her seeming progression in controlling her anger, and then he snuck into the kitchen next to his mother-in-law, sparking up conversation immediately, and keeping a careful eye on Ava for Patricia's sake. The red-head on the other hand, sat with her chin in her palm, a bored expression coloring her face as she tried to ignore the need to yell at _Eddie,_ now, for being so easy to slip into any setting casually, even if it was with her own mother.

"Oh, Patricia," Deborah sang, minutes later, hitting Eddie's hands away from the chips. "You were so quiet, I almost forgot your existence!" While the older woman let out a hearty laugh, Patricia mocked it, her annoyance slowly starting to reach a boiling point. "Well, why don't you come over and help me finish my cooking? Eddie's no help over here." Patricia was too excited that she was included in her mother's plans to notice her remark on Eddie. On any other day, the new mother would have stuck up for her husband with words, and a defiance, that would most likely have made her mother burst into tears. But today, she acceptingly joined Deborah in the kitchen shooing Eddie farther away from the food that he had his vision fixated on.

"Piper and Jeremiah should be here soon." Deborah almost whispered, blankly, once Patricia was given the instructions to bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies.

"Jerald," Eddie cut in, peeling his eyes from the cookie dough that was slowly coming along in Patricia's mixing bowl.

"Of course," Mrs. Williamson waved her hand dismissively. "That's obviously what I meant." Patricia shot Eddie an I-can't-take-it-anymore-please-let-me-murder-her-n ow look that he returned with a serious head shake, warning her not to do anything.

"Anyway, I figured we could discuss some parenting tips. There's no better resource than a mother herself!" Deborah cheerily sang out the words, smiling over at Ava who had her eyes contently glued on her mother. If it weren't for that, Patricia probably would have suffocated her mother with the cookie dough in her hands.

"Not to be rude, but Eddie and I are doing perfectly fine so far-"

"Oh, Trisha. I'm sure that you could use a little help, I mean obviously Ava's not-" Eddie thanked god that the doorbell rang just then, right before Mrs. Williamson could insult anyone further, and Patricia could stuff her own mother in the oven. "Door, John!" Deborah replaced her light voice with a commanding yell that immediately made Ava burst into tears. Patricia shot her mother the first disgraceful and annoyed glare since they arrived, and she ran to her daughter's side, unbuckling her from her seat and holding her against her chest rocking her back and forth and smoothing back her light hair.

Mr. Williamson sleepily emerged from the den, rubbing his eyes and slowly trudging down the stairs to greet Piper and Jerald at the door. Patricia clenched her jaw when she heard her father's happy voice floating upstairs at the arrival of her sister and brother-in-law. Deborah dropped the knife she was using to cut up chicken and ran with her hands in the air to envelope Piper in a tight hug. Eddie shot Patricia a supportive smile and then politely went down to greet them as well. Seconds later, Patricia heard Eddie tell Piper where she was, and before she knew it, her excited sister was rushing up the stairs, her bracelets clanking together each time she took a step in her dangerously tall heels.

"Trish!" Her twin cried happily, wrapping her sister in a hug and trying not to be so focused on her niece. But she couldn't help and smile. "She's adorable," Piper complimented quietly, looking over her sister's shoulder at Ava.

"Thanks," Patricia grinned at her sister. Maybe today wouldn't be _awful_. Especially if Piper was at least attempting to make things about other people than herself. Sure, Piper seemed sweet, and she never meant to, but she had definitely inherited the unappealing, self-promoting trait that their mother possessed, too. Maybe that was why she was married to a successful Hollywood director; they were equally conceited. Patricia, this time, gladly allowed Ava to be taken from her arms, because Piper was gentle with her, cooing softly at her and kissing her head. Patricia's smile had widened when her father had given her a tight hug, complaining that she should have told him that they were there earlier. In turn for her generosity and kindness, Eddie had wrapped his arms around Patricia from behind and placed a kiss on her lips.

_Everything is going to be so much better than I thought,_ Patricia told herself, looking forward, for the first time ever, for an afternoon with her family.

***o***

Boy was she wrong.

Two hours later, dinner being cleared off of the table by a concerned Eddie, Patricia had her head in her hands, slowly rubbing her temples, trying to block out the chipper voices of Piper and Deborah who only allowed their husband's input when they stumbled across a minor conflict in their conversation. Jerald and John, otherwise, seemed completely okay with trading places; from staring over at Ava, almost creepily, in Patricia's opinon, to talking to the mother herself, to butting into the argument, the two men were perfectly content.

Patricia wasn't. She officially _hated_ her family, and her brother-in-law was worse than she had ever imagined. Eddie didn't seem to notice the little annoyances that Jerald brought Patricia. Such as the slow, thought-over way that he talked, which he always followed with one of those too-good-to-be-true-pearl-white-Hollywood smiles. He was purely _agitating. _

Eddie smiled, generously, from behind the counter when he heard his name in the conversation. Patricia heard it too. The red-head was too quick with her words, suddenly starting an argument between all five people at the table, leaving Eddie nearly embarrassed and completely surprised by her capability to switch a mood around almost instantly. He pouted over at Ava when she was woken up from her nap, sending wails across the room. He waited, for only a second, and when he noticed that there was no way that Patricia was going to get up from her spot anytime soon, he placed down the dishes that he was washing and strode to his daughter's side.

Promptly a minute after grabbing her small sides and beginning to rock her up and down, lightly, Eddie knew that the little girl needed to be changed. The worst part of parenting. "Patricia?" He held Ava away from himself for the sake of his nose, and waited to catch his wife's attention. "Yacker?" She quickly turned around, sent a glare over at him and then threw herself in the middle of another argument that had sparked the second that she had left one.

Ava, on the other hand, handled the situation in the best way that _she_ could, which was by crying louder. "Eddie!" Patricia complained about Ava for only a second, not evening caring to look over her shoulder as he mother started to critique her parenting skills. Eddie, almost gratefully now, took the cue to rush down the stairs, where he knew there was a bathroom and living room.

After Ava had been changed, pacified, and was contently tugging at her father's ear for enjoyment, Eddie let out a sigh. "Honey," he paused, quickly checking to make sure that there wasn't anyone close or quiet enough to hear him. "Let's just hope that there isn't ever a family reunion." In reply, the little girl spewed out a collection of giggles, her pacifier dropping from her mouth, and rolling behind the couch, as she did do. She didn't even flinch.

"At least you're a happy baby." Eddie commented, almost distantly. He placed her on the ground, keeping a careful eye on her as she rushed up the stairs. He returned, breathless and worried, only a few seconds later, play pen in hand, to find her exactly where she was. He sighed at his foolishness for even assuming that she would move, and started to pull together his daughter's favorite and most spacious play pen. Once she was joyfully situated in it, cooing at the toys hanging from the top, and her stuffed cow in the corner, Eddie cleaned off her pacifier in the bathroom, and then handed it back to her, settling down next to the play pen and smiling over at the happy girl. She took turns, staring at her toys, and then over at her dad, smiling wider for him, mainly because he was grinning from ear-to-ear at her.

"I think," Eddie looked over at her carefully, and then rubbed the top of her nearly bald head, gently. "I think that your first words are going to be dada. What do you say, sweetie?"

"She can't talk yet, Eddie." Patricia sulked down the stairs, plopping down on the opposite side of the play pen with a dignified huff. He should've known she'd be down soon – the arguing had certainly stopped and the house was suddenly much quieter.

"I know," the American replied nonchalantly, "Always worth getting the idea stuck in her head though." "So," he added in question. "What happened up there?"

"Nothing." Patricia moaned, clearly trying to avoid the subject. "I just want to go home."

"What about the cookies that you baked? Don't you want to stay for them?"

"No," she replied, crossly.

With an eye roll, he stood up, allowing his wife to take Ava from the play pen before he packed it up. "Fine. What's our excuse?" Patricia looked from the baby, to him, as if he was the daftest idiot in the world.

***o***

"I. Hate. My. Mother." Patricia scooted into the back seat of the car, seeming as though she felt bad about her ignorance towards her daughter earlier.

"I thought nothing happened?" Eddie looked curiously at her through the driver's mirror, a smirk on his face. It had taken an entire fifteen minutes to convince Deborah to let them leave. "Ava's not feeling well," "She misses being home," "I'm tired," "I have a work paper that needs to be filed by tomorrow," the woman didn't buy anything. Piper finally spoke up, telling her mother softly that they had to get going too, and Deborah, without questioning _her_ excuse, dismissed them, which allowed Eddie and Patricia to sneak out too.

"Why can't we leave, but Piper and Jerald can? Are we like her prisoners or something? I can tell you one thing-"

"Can the baby hear this?" Eddie asked, cautiously

She shot him an of-course-I-won't-curse-in-front-of-her-you-_idiot_ look, before continuing. "I was _going to say_, that if I had to be held captive, she is the last person I would ever want to spend even two seconds of my time as prisoner with."

"Your mom isn't that bad."

"My mum is a self-indulged, worthless…. _Witch._" Eddie chuckled at Patricia's pause before she had added in the closest hint she could give to any nickname.

"Nice save, Yacker."

"Yeah, yeah." The red head rolled her eyes at her husband, and then smiled over at her sleeping daughter, brushing pieces of hair out of her face. "I think that you only like my mother because she tolerates you. Imagine being me. I'm like a freaking fish surrounded by thousands of sharks in that house."

"Language," Eddie scolded.

"Not a bad word," Patricia reminded him in a sing-song voice.

"Anyway," Eddie moved on, "it's not like my relationship with my father is on the top of the world."

"Oh, your dad is perfectly tolerable."

"That is _not_ what you thought in high-school."

"That is what I'm thinking now. Compared to my mother, at least."

"Your mom is so much better than my dad and his punctual attitudes-"

"Okay, we aren't having his argument." Patricia cut in before she would have to get caught in the middle of _another_ brutal war between wrong and right.

***o***

"Mr. Sweet!" Patricia smiled when the old man reminded her, again, to call him Eric. "Eric," She corrected herself over the phone, careful to make sure that Eddie would hear her. He did. And the American boy was all ears from the living room where he tried to sneakily turn down the TV.

"_What do I owe this pleasure?"_ Eric asked. Sure, he had never warmed up to Patricia, but there were definitely qualities in her that he noticed and appreciated as her relationship with his son got more serious.

"Eddie and I are going to be in town next weekend, and we were wondering if you'd be available for a visit." Patricia smirked over at Eddie who had gotten up from his spot on the couch and started shaking his hands and head violently, trying to clearly demonstrate his opinon on the situation; he didn't want to visit his father.

"_Oh that would be excellent! Tea all around Saturday afternoon!" _Eric chirped, excitedly.

The two exchanged a few more small details before Patricia hung up, a triumphant smirk on her face.

"You did not just do that." Eddie spat, disbelief in his voice. (Although, admittedly, it _had_ been brilliant.)

"I did." Patricia smiled victoriously, ruffled his hair, and then swiftly took the remote before he could argue, and switched the TV to a more preferable channel.

***o***

**A/N: Okay, and that's the end of the first official chapter! Let me know what you thought!**

**Also, I am completely willing to take any prompts now. I have a list of my own (I stumbled across my very first list of ides for a fic like this that I had created **_**months**_** ago, and was actually very thankful.) I'm going to try and focus mainly on stages of Ava's childhood in one section, so that I don't have to jump around during this fic too much, but I certainly will go back to any time period, if I get a good prompt later on. Right now, though, I'll take any future family prompt that you have, (any time range baby Ava – Married Ava) and I promise that it should pop up in some way, somehow, eventually, if I can work with it. Again, this isn't a request, just a friendly reminder. =)**

**Thank you, I love you guys!**

**~Grace**

**(P.S. Emma, I miss you already! This is the worst part about Holiday Weekends)**


	4. Chapter 4 -Never Leave Her

**A/N: (Reading this is entirely OPTIONAL)**

**Profusely typing **_**sorry**_** probably won't make up for the length of time that I didn't update this. I'm soooo sorry guys. At first, I blamed the little time that I had to write on school ending. The last month was a whirlwind of last-minute projects and tests and I was so utterly stressed out. However, after that, it was more me beginning to develop writers block. I honestly have started watching all of the new ABC Family shows, becoming wrapped up in those, and House of Anubis, especially with the show not airing at the moment, has become more difficult to write. I'm definitely going to try to continue with this, I swear, and I **_**am**_** sorry for the long wait.**

**I got a guest review (kindly putting it) they asked me to update, and honestly, I get that me putting this off for so long was rude, but the comment stung. I **_**am**_** excited for this, and yes, I wish that I had updated more. I won't forget, I just want everyone to know that there are going to be times when I update daily, and then weeks may pass. I wish that it wasn't that way, but my schedule's starting to grow increasingly busy and all I can promise is that I'll try. It feels almost petty for being upset over a comment, especially because I should be glad that someone is still thinking of the story. However, I still can't wrap my head around the attitude that was directed at me. They weren't utterly disrespectful, but, honestly, I was in a car, driving to Florida, where I still don't have internet access. (I will be going to Starbucks soon, though). I was trying to enjoye myself, but surrounded by my family, bored to death, that was the **_**last**_** thing I wanted to hear. It wasn't like I've been writing tons of chapters and evilly laughing because I'm making you guys wait. No, I feel even worse than anyone, and I'm really hoping to make a larger effort. Okay?**

**On another note, Most of the prompts that I received were on Eddie becoming completely over-protective over Ava when she grows up and gets a boyfriend. I was certainly planning and am looking forward to that prompt. However, here comes the big question. Are you guys hoping for the chapters to move in a sequenced order of Ava growing up, or would you prefer that I make most posts completely one-shoty and jump around to different stages of her life? It depends on if you guys prefer a sequence of events or if you'd rather I filled prompts that came in almost immediately by jumping around and then going back. Please let me know which you prefer, I could see (and would be perfectly content) with either choice!**

**Also, I got a large response on the last chapter about excitement over the meeting with Mr. Sweet. I was actually really surprised that people were looking forward to it and began to develop the outline of this chapter and became more and more excited about the idea. So, thank you for reading this far, if you have, and for the ideas that you helped create. :) I hope that you guys enjoy this! **

*****o*****

It was nearly nine o'clock when Eddie threw open the front door of his home and slammed it behind him. Startled, Patricia gripped Ava to her chest, whispering soothing nothing's in her distressed daughter's ear. "Eddie?" Patricia had figured it was him, but she hadn't expected him to be acting drunk. It had happened before; he would come home from dinners with his co-workers having drunk an extra beer or two, but Patricia at least figured that he would have the decency to be more careful now that Ava was born. She stayed up stairs, eyeing him carefully when he didn't respond. There were a few moments of utter silence when even Ava didn't whimper, and then Eddie let out a groan and kicked the side table near the couch, sending it toppling over and shattering the picture frame that had rested on it.

"Eddie!" Patricia ran down the stairs, grabbing on to his arm and sitting him down on the couch. She pursed her lips and then slowly sat down beside him, staring warily at him. His head dropped, showing off his mangled blond hair. She _wanted_ to ask him questions, but she couldn't bring herself to. After what seemed like days of silence, Eddie finally broke the awkward wall between them. "I'm not drunk, Patricia," he mumbled, casting her a look. His lips were pouted, and, Patricia noticed, his eyes were slightly red. But not bloodshot. She didn't even smell like traces of alcohol, but Patricia had simply assumed that was his issue. She couldn't possibly imagine what part of reality could be bad enough to spark his anger.

"Want to hold her?" Patricia carefully offered him Ava, keeping the sleeping girl's head balanced under her right palm. Patricia was honestly surprised when Eddie quickly grabbed his daughter in his hands, and pressed her against him, kissing the top of her head. Patricia stood up, moving around the grey couch to pick up the table and picture frame. She placed the back of the frame and picture on the top of the newly-recovered table and then cautiously scooped the spare shards of glass into her hand. After she had thrown those out, she came back wiping her hands on her jeans. "We can just get a new frame for-" Patricia halted, staring carefully at the picture. It was taken a while ago, but had recently been given to them from Eddie's mom. The eyes of two-year-old Eddie stared back at his wife through the shattered glass. They were green, full of happiness, a wide child smile stretched across his face. Both of his parents sat next to him, each one clasping his hand in between both of their larger palms. Both Eric and Nancy had genuine smiles on their faces in the picture that had been taken on Eddie's first trip to London.

"Eddie, you knew which picture frame you broke, didn't you?" Patricia placed her palm on his back, situating herself on the arm of the couch, soothingly rubbing his back and patiently waiting for a response.

Eddie swallowed loudly, the Adam's Apple in his throat bobbing. "It's been twenty-three years since today," Eddie sighed, handing Ava back to Patricia and thrusting his head in his shaking hands. "…Since he left, I mean." He sat, there silently, shaking almost, and clearly, Patricia could tell, he wanted – no, desperately needed to be comforted.

"I'll be back in a second." Patricia kissed the top of his head and then walked upstairs, gently laying her daughter down in the crib that had recently been moved into Ava's own room. After Ava was gently and securely laid down, Patricia closed the door silently and made her way back downstairs. Once she was back at the depressed American's side, Patricia wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her head on his chin.

"I didn't go to that dinner." Eddie broke the silence once again. Instead of questioning him, though, Patricia simply acquiesced to his unannounced request.

"Leftover pizza any good?" Patricia offered, knowing that Eddie would probably have eaten it even if he _had_ ended up going to the monthly dinner with his fellow employees. The blond perked up at the suggestion and immediately found himself in their kitchen, scrabbling through the fridge. Per usual, he didn't bother to microwave the leftovers and instead began stuffing his face greedily. "The stuff you eat," Patricia shook her head disapprovingly, "knowing perfectly well that I can make you a healthy meal."

"No, thanks, really, _mom._" Eddie rolled his eyes at her, his attitude starting to slowly become more cheery. His usual sarcasm rolling freely off of his tongue. Patricia waited quietly, attempting to open her mouth and bring up the more serious topic that Eddie was clearly avoiding, but to no avail.

"Eddie," Patricia finally tried. He turned to look over at her, immediately reading the solemn expression written on her face.

"I know," He sighed, sitting down at a vacant stool in front of the kitchen island.

"So," Patricia started, sitting next to him, "twenty three years?"

"Yes, Patricia," Eddie seemed clearly annoyed but there wasn't another way that the red-head could have started up the conversation.

"What's making you so upset about it _this_ year?" In the ten years that she had known him, Eddie had only ever stated the fact nonchalantly, if at all, and then gotten over it immediately.

"I don't know," Eddie groaned, resting his head in between his arms on the counter.

"Do you," Patricia carefully stumbled through the right words to say. Eric's abandonment was a touchy topic for Eddie, and Patricia couldn't bring herself to rush right into everything that she wanted to discuss with him. "Do you think that maybe this is because of Ava?"

"I don't know," Eddie whined, obviously not even listening.

"Eddie," Patricia stated his name more forcefully, semi-grabbing the American's attention. "I asked if you think that you're so upset about this now that you have a daughter that you can't even think about leaving."

"How _did_ he do it?" Eddie shook his head. "How did he manage to tell himself that it was the last time he would hug his three-year-old-son, how could he possibly have looked into my mom's eyes and then walked out?" Patricia swallowed, unsure of if he actually was digging for an answer or if he didn't want to poke at the topic further.

"I'm not sure." She finally sighed, receiving no response. Eddie clearly wasn't going to push anymore, so Patricia was forced to bring up the question that had been on her mind for a while. "So, how do you feel about Saturday?"

"What's Saturday?" Eddie groaned when he remembered their plans with his father, and he re-buried his head in his arms.

"I can call to cancel," Patricia offered, "Or reschedule-"

"No, don't. _ I'm _not going to bail on _him_."

***o***

Sleepy and not in the mood to go anywhere (let alone visit her former principle and father-in-law) Patricia groaned as she climbed out of the empty king bed. Eddie's side of the bed seemed to have been deserted for _hours_, and with the house's silence, Patricia couldn't possibly imagine what he was doing. Her initial (not-so-rational ) thoughts were consumed of nervousness that he had taken off in order to skip their planned trip with his dad. Or worse, he had left all together. As much as Eddie despised his father's actions, Patricia couldn't help but feel nervous that one day he just wouldn't be there for them anymore either. Of course, she hadn't bothered to take in the fact that his car keys were still in a pile on the floor along with his shoes and tie, or that Eddie had learned too rashly from his father's mistakes to _ever_ do anything like that. Still, she couldn't help that she got worried.

The red-head quietly made her way towards the nursery where she made sure to check in on her daughter immediately after she woke up, as always. She found herself pleasantly surprised when she walked in and Ava was on the floor, gripping tightly to the stuffed bunny that Joy had given her. A smile was planted on the five-month-old-girl's face as she stared up at her mother. Patricia scooped her up, planting a kiss on her cheek.

Obviously, Ava being in a good mood was the absolute _best_ way to begin any day, but what Patricia found herself overly happy about was Eddie. He sat in the pink rocking chair (he had picked out the color arguing that a baby girl _needed _something pink in her room) that was situated in the corner, his head drooped with fatigue. He was letting out light snores, and from his uncomfortable position, Patricia figured he had a crook in his neck and his back hurt. Still, that didn't stop the fact that he was _adorable._ Even after marriage and their first daughter, Eddie still managed to make Patricia smile with simply his presence. It was partially the fact that they both experienced difficult childhoods with their parent's splits and were determined to not let their relationship burn that way. However, Patricia in particular, had never had a reliable relationship to lean on in the past and upon finding one with Eddie, she was naturally (and almost always) excited to see him.

Besides, he had clearly woken up early to care for Ava whilst Patricia was too deep into sleep to care. That deserved an award when it came to parenting. Even though her nighttime interruptions were becoming less and less, and completely scattered, Ava still managed to keep both of her parent's on their feet throughout the night. Regardless of how both Eddie and Patricia couldn't wait until she became more independent, neither of them were willing to give up the stage that she was in; completely cute, young, and innocent.

Furthermore, Eddie and Patricia had both seemingly grown since their daughter was born. Patricia discovered that being a mother wasn't as terrifying as she thought it would be. Throughout her life she was always the complete opposite of a magnet, and even when she found that _snarky, annoying, stupid, loud American_ attracted to her, she managed to push him away for as long as possible. Really, Eddie's interest in her seemed to open Patricia's world -confidence wise, at least- and make her seem somewhat more approachable. That didn't help the abandonment she had felt for the longest time as a child. She never fit in, and the tough skin that she had developed because of it certainly didn't help her continue to make friends later in her life. In total, the idea of becoming a mother -the one figure in a child's life that she relies on most- was absolutely frightening. If no one had ever been there for Patricia than how would Patricia possibly be capable to caring for someone else? The idea that the hot-headed red head from high-school that everyone knew about as rude, unreliable, and tempered would have to become caring, sensitive, and motherly was absurd. But once Ava was born, Patricia simply uncovered the side of her that was rarely seen. She found that, through the mistakes made by her parents, she knew exactly _what_ to do and _what not_ to do. Ava had not only helped her to become more mature and understanding to everyone (and as Eddie happily pointed out, cuter and more loveable) but Ava also brought along a new self-confidence for her mother. Patricia began to realize that she was the one having social issues, not everyone else. And she was thoroughly thankful for being able to change that around and prove that she wasn't some stupid, stereotypical bully that got nowhere in life.

Eddie, as well, became utterly more mature since his daughter's birth and his new role as a father. Truthfully, somewhere buried deep enough that not even Patricia knew, Eddie had been nervous about becoming a father. Sure, the Osirian crap going on in England was what Eric argued had driven him out of the house, but Eddie didn't know the _whole_ story. He felt so unprepared to become a father if it meant that suddenly everyone would be relying so heavily on him that he would crack one day and leave. He promised himself that he wouldn't leave Patricia, ever, long before Ava was born. But once she was, there suddenly wasn't one girl in his life that he cared so strongly about. Instead, there were two. Two hot-headed girls with large sea-blue eyes expectantly waiting for him to come home each and every day. That wasn't _pressure,_ Eddie discovered. No, having two of the most amazing girls in the world, in his life, was genuinely _wonderful_. If anything, that was what brought him home each night instead of driving him away.

***o***

"Who loves you, Ave?" Eddie tickled his daughter's stomach as she began to wake up from her first nap of the day. "Does daddy love you? Yes he does!" He planted a bunch of kisses on her chubby cheeks, making her smile her still toothless grin and giggle her innocent baby laugh.

Patricia smiled from the driver's seat, sneaking a glance in the mirror at her husband and daughter. Eddie had always been enthusiastically affectionate, but having a baby around the house had turned him into utter mush. He already had the young girl wrapped around his finger, and took the largest pride in being a father. Patricia didn't feel jealous of the relationship that the two shared, or thankful (as some assumed) that Eddie was so loving. She knew all too well how to be caring towards anyone that she could tolerate. Her relationship with Eddie had prepped her for that. However, she was completely grateful that Ava and Eddie both already adored each other. Neither of Patricia's parents had been completely affectionate towards her (or Piper) until recently. While Piper was completely happy with the new attention, Patricia was scarred from the abandonment she had felt as a child. Plus, the red-head _knew_ that Eddie could hardly stand to look back on his past. It delighted her to know that Ava had the absolute best father in the world while neither of them grew up with any sort of fatherly support.

"Okay, Eddie, am I turning left here?" Patricia interrupted the random words Eddie was cooing in the backseat at their cheerful daughter.

"Uh, yeah." Eddie replied, looking up at the window quickly to confirm his wife's question. He then glanced back down at Ava, an odd feeling rushing through him at the thought that he was a few miles away from seeing Eric again. He wasn't nervous to see his father. Upset, maybe. Looking into Ava's bright, sea-blue eyes, a pan of guilt rushed through _him_. He felt guilty for what his father had done twenty-three years ago. Burying his head in the space between Ava's petite neck and shoulder, Eddie whispered to her, reassuringly, for the millionth time, that he and Patricia loved her more than anything.

***o***

_It's normal I suppose._ Patricia thought when Eric grabbed Ava's car seat from her parent's hands before ushering them inside. Of course, neither Patricia's mother nor Eddie's father were perfectly sane, but she hadn't expected her infant to be torn from her hands at each visit. Gently, Eric placed Ava inside a baby pen that had been situated inside his living room, pre-set up. Patricia smiled at that, looking over at her peacefully calm daughter, and then at her husband who was graciously embracing his father. Eric was making a larger effort than her parent's had already.

"Patricia!" Her old headmaster's face was its usual rosy color as he tore away from his son and took her in a hug. Not even while she and Eddie were dating in high-school would Patricia have ever come so close to Eric. But she found a new sense of pride (and evident maturity) in the fact that she was the only student (aside from Eddie, of course) that still was entirely connected to her old school. They hadn't visited it in a while, but Eric told the family plenty of stories about the new generation.

Patricia and Eric were torn apart from their hug when Eddie noticed the play pen and interrupted them; commenting that his dad absolutely didn't have to go out of his way to buy something that nice for Ava. At first, Patricia noticed the hesitation in Eric's face. When he did open his mouth, it was to shake away the "_you didn't have to" _with an "Oh, please." And then came the truth, and Patricia suddenly felt nervous for how the rest of the day was going to go.

"I, uh…" Eric sighed, "Your mother sent that down last week. I, um, I bought that for you when you were, uh, a baby."

Patricia could imagine Eddie's chest contracting, and then she could understand the disappointment he felt, as he simply replied an "oh." When Eric's attention was turned to Ava, who had spat out a sentence of noises that made no sense, Eddie stole a glance over at Patricia. She stepped over Ava's diaper bag, and rubbed his back, pressing her cheek to his shoulder. "Don't let it ruin your day," She whispered, squeezing his arm in an awkward attempt to give him a subtle hug.

"I won't," Eddie replied unconvincingly after a long pause. He sat down immediately afterward, rudely loosing Patricia's grip on his arm. She sighed at his attitude and then uneasily chose to sit on the opposing side of Ava's play pen as Eric. In few moments though, she forgot about Eddie's pouting and found herself smiling joyfully and proudly as Eric cooed over Ava. Her daughter, in turn, began smiling uncontrollably at Patricia's grin. Besides her change in maturity, Ava also forced Patricia to smile more often. The more her mother smiled, the more the strawberry-blonde baby smiled.

***o***

"So, what's new with you two?" Eric asked after pulling out the chairs for both his son and his daughter-in-law. Once they were situated, he sat down in his own chair, and folded his palms together.

"Uh, nothing, really," Eddie (who was determined to act as if he was in a perfectly acceptable mood) looked over to Patricia for conformation.

"Not much," she agreed, smiling over at Eric. "I just returned to work six weeks ago and we're all adjusting to that. Ava seems to really be enjoying the daycare, though, so we haven't been overly-stressed."

"Oh, that's good." Eric nodded, cracking the slightest of a smile. "You know, Edison, I remember when you started your first daycare and your mother-"

"Hello, have you guys decided what you would like to order?" Patricia had never greatly appreciated any scripted waitresses who walked around with fake accents and tight skirts, but she was utterly glad when a freckled-covered ginger, boasting the name tag SARAH, directly along her chest, came along, notepad in hand. Eddie sighed, clearly disappointed that his father was still attempting discussions about his childhood when he had never demonstrated any sort of interest in the subject before Ava. Trying not to be too agitated, Eddie glanced back down at his menu, and ordered pasta dish.

Eric had suggested eating out because his pantry was bare, and, on top of that, he remembered paperwork that he had to pick up from his office at the school. Eddie hadn't minded too much, simply because he felt uncomfortable in the vintage-decorated home. As far as Eddie knew, Eric had never stepped foot inside any other house but the ones at the school. It was odd for the American-raised boy to imagine that he would've grown up in that house had his father taken him with him. Or better, had his parent's just moved to England together. While Nancy constantly blamed the fact that they both had different ambitions on their divorce, Eddie didn't buy it. He felt, that if he ever felt a strong urge to move back to America, Patricia would find a way to make that work. Of course, if she didn't want to, Eddie also felt that he would suck it up and stay in England. They were freshly married, and their daughter was still young, but Eddie didn't want something like moving to tear _them_ apart.

After their meals arrived, Ava woke up from the second nap she had taken that day. Still cranky, and not used to waking up in an unknown and loud setting, she burst into tears. Before Eddie could jump at the opportunity to escape the awkward silence between him and his dad, Patricia was out of her seat, simply repeating the situation she was put in almost whenever they were out in public. She comforted Ava, whispering quiet and soothing nothing's into her ear so that she wouldn't disturb the restaurant's other guests as she quickly exited.

"Hhmm." Eric cleared his throat, refolding his hands and pushing away the rest of his salad. Knowing that his father was going to pronounce an entire speech, Eddie dove back into his pasta, careful to leave barley any room between chewing, swallowing, and re-stuffing his mouth. "You know," Eric began after he got over Eddie's disgraceful behavior. "Patricia's a wonderful mother." Eddie's mouth was entirely full, so Eric continued, too impatient to wait any longer for a response. "Back when you two were in high-school I never thought-"

"If this is going to be a rude comment about Patricia, I don't want to hear it," Eddie hadn't swallowed all of the food in his mouth when he spoke, but he wasn't willing to sit and listen to _anyone _say absolutely _anything_ negative about his wife. Talking about the past or not, Eddie didn't care. He'd rather stick up for her than leave her to the payback.

"Oh, no, no! Of course not!" Both father and son knew that merely nine years ago, Eric was secretly (but not too subtly) excited about the split between Patricia and Eddie. He wasn't even too pleased to know that they had gotten back together. However, that didn't diminish the respect he felt towards the formerly snarky red-head now. He wouldn't dare comment something rude to Eddie of all people. Eddie who loved her more than anything. "I was going to say; when you two were in high school, I never imagined that either of you felt completely comfortable in even considering a future together. But imagine, only eight years after you got back together, you're married and have started a family. I'm proud of you, Edison."

Eddie gulped down the pasta in his mouth, but didn't dare take another mouthful. He was dumbfounded. His father had never mentioned being proud of him for anything but for Osirian related issues. Eddie had never imagined that the most unreliable father of all time would deem his son respected and worthy for having his own child. Maybe, though, Eddie realized, it wasn't that Eric was entirely _proud_ of Eddie for having the guts to propose to Patricia and even more guts to start a family. Instead, Eddie figured, Eric was a bit _jealous_. Perhaps, even, _perplexed_. And then Eric answered his son's wonderings in a statement that Eddie never imagined he would hear.

"I always suspected that you wouldn't feel strongly about any sort of relationship because of me. I'm glad to know that my unreliability hasn't led to your own. You're lucky to have found Patricia."

"Dad-"

"Edison. We both know that without that girl you would hate me. We are both sitting here with full understanding that if Miss Williamson-" Eric paused, contemplating if he should correct himself. No, Patricia had always been _Miss. Williamson_ to him. "If she hadn't forced you to realize that you don't always have to walk away from situations that you can't handle, we wouldn't be looking into each other's eyes and having a calm conversation at this moment."

At first, Eddie had to let the words sink in. Eric had been wholly aware that his selfishness would lead to Eddie's little confidence in relationships further on in his life. "Is that why you left, dad?" Eddie sighed, hoping that nothing would become too overly dramatic and emotional in a matter of seconds. "Because you couldn't _handle_ me?"

"I couldn't handle anything. Your mother and I wanted different things for ourselves, for you. Eddie, I want you to know that I tried so hard to fight for you. I couldn't ship my three-year-old son to a new town, in a foreign country whilst I managed to take over position as head master at a school. But know, Son, that I still tried, even though I knew that it was impossible." Eddie nodded, averting his eyes from Eric's sorrowful stare. "And I missed you. I missed you even when you were in England at sixteen years old. I missed you when you called me dad for the first time. I missed the years I lost of you calling me dad-"

"Dad." The tears were not only spotting Eric's eyes, but caught in his voice as well. Eddie was determined to not create a scene. "Did you ever miss," Eddie caught his voice in his throat, having to force himself to spit out a question that had been on his mind for _years_. "Did you ever miss mom?"

Eric was given time to think over his response by turning his head at the sound of the restaurant's front door opening. He didn't want to tell Eddie the truth, so he was thankful to see Patricia walk back through the door, Ava cheerfully twisting and chewing on pieces of her mother's auburn hair. However, he didn't want to leave Eddie hanging and further push the annoyance that his son constantly felt towards him. "Edison," Eric leaned forward, barely whispering the answer he had conjured up. "If you are inquiring if your child would be the one you feel the utmost regret for leaving, I am both ashamed _and_ prideful to tell you that the answer is an absolute no. If you would care to know if it would ever be okay to walk away from Miss Williamson with your daughter in your arms, the answer is the same. Sometimes, we leave what we wanted to take with us disappointedly, but we manage to forget the other person who was hurt even more because we weren't even capable to remember about their existence."

***o***

Both Eddie and Eric had feigned that they had participated in a conversation on literature and films for Patricia's sake, and managed to keep the atmosphere happy and light for the rest of the evening. Naively, Patricia had sparked up conversation that included both men, hoping that she could break a walk of awkwardness between them. Little did she know about the barrier that had been rebuilt during their actual conversation. A walk around town had provided Eric with enough time to babble about present day events in the school in comparison to ones that occurred when the couple had attended, and Eddie had been capable enough to act interested. By the time that Eric remembered the paper work that he had to pick up from his office, it was growing increasingly dark outside. Patricia had offered that they would go to the school with him to look around and then say goodbye, and an annoyed Eddie unwillingly acquiesced to her suggestion. (Which Eric was delighted about).

Patricia had a smile on her face before the front door of the school's building had even been opened. Eric promised that they would meet up again as soon as he had the situation sorted out, and quickly shuffled down the hallway to his office. The door clicked shut, and with Ava completely asleep, Eddie and Patricia were left in silence. "Wow," Patricia managed to breathe out as she nearly ran down the hallway in excitement. Eddie flicked on the light switches at each new hallway, glancing around and trying to not get too overwhelmed.

"I thought you hated school?" He teased Patricia for her delighted reaction.

"_Sometimes_, I hated school," Patricia corrected. Before Eddie could respond, Patricia had opened the door to the drama room. "Eddie," she breathed, "This is where we had our carrot fight! Do you remember that?"

"Yeah," Eddie grinned, chuckling at her giddiness. She had always complained about having a difficult past, so seeing her _smile_ while she _reminisced _over memories that they shared, made him proud.

They walked through most of the classrooms, laughing at how all of their memories were of detentions that they had had together. Patricia stopped in front of her old locker, pieces of her decorative stickers still stuck onto the front of it. The name _Samantha_ was now written in cursive and the name tag had carefully been slid into place.

"And this," Patricia boasted at still remembering, "is where you kissed me for the first time in five months after we had broken up." Eddie smiled widely; gently placing Ava's carrying seat on the ground by his feat, and embracing Patricia.

"Yacker," He whispered into her ear, "I love you."

"I love you too." They rarely ever hugged affectionately, so she held on to him, embracing the feeling of his carefully ironed work shirt instead of the leather "bad-boy" jackets he had worn when they were younger. Years ago, she would never had hugged Eddie in the middle of a hallway near her locker, let alone have imagined that they would suffice through the difficult years of growing up, and still stay a strong couple.

"You know how you thought that I was so upset about my dad leaving this year because of Ava?" Eddie had pulled away from the hug, cupping her face in his hands, and rubbing his thumbs over her cheeks. Patricia nodded, fully assuming that he was only going to agree with it.

"You were wrong."

"What?-"

"Yacker," he sighed, dropping his head. They still weren't entirely used to being overly dramatic or too mushy. "I love Ava so much, and I will do absolutely anything for her, and you know that. But _I_ know that you're still scared that I'm going to get overwhelmed by her and walk out one day." By the tears gathering in Patricia's eyes, and the choked back sigh she made, he knew that he had guessed correctly. She despised seeming vulnerable. "Baby, if Ava had never happened and we ended up living with ten cats for the rest of our lives, I wouldn't leave. You're the reason I come home every _single_ night. I'm not leaving her, and I will never, ever leave you because I love you." Before Patricia could cry the way she wanted to over the emotional subject, or even remind him that she loved him back, Their lips were locked, and soon enough it was like they were back in high school. Pressed against lockers, selfishly making out without a care in the world, yet still wary of the fact that Eric Sweet was nearby. They had become a pair of two well rounded, educated, and mature adults, and that didn't stop the fact that they felt like love-sick teenagers.

Patricia pulled away, cupping his face in her hands. "You need to have one-on-one conversations with your dad more often," she joked, pulling him in again for another kiss.

It was true, though. The man that Eddie felt couldn't handle the smallest of relationships, had managed to remind him of the precious feelings that he felt towards Patricia. Irreplaceable feelings that had already begun to drift in the past months. "I will never leave either of you," Eddie whispered to Patricia, once again, at the sound of Eric's office door opening and then closing behind him. Releasing her from their embrace, Eddie picked up Ava's carrier seat and took Patricia's hand. Needless to say, Eric couldn't put his finger on what memory had possibly sparked enough of a laugh that neither Eddie nor Patricia were capable of wiping the foolish smiles from their faces.

***o***

**A/N: Well, I know that I was away too long, but I certainly hope that this chapter filled someone of your wants. :) I already asked this before, but I just wanted to know your opinions on the order of this story. Chronological order of Ava's life, or should I jump around to random one-shots? It's up to you guys!**

**Until next time,**

**Grace**

**P.S. Thank you for sticking through this story even though I am the worst updater ever. I love you all! =)**


	5. Chapter 5 -Worry About Her

**A/N: I didn't receive as many reviews on the last chapter as normal, but that's okay because the ones that I did get were the absolute sweetest things that I've ever heard. If I didn't get to PM you because you were a guest, or not signed in, I just want you all to know how appreciative I am for what I heard. The feedback on not only the chapter, but at how it made up for the wait certainly made me feel so much better. Your words made my day, so thank you for that, everyone. :) I hope that you enjoy this chapter equally as much! **

**Ava's nearly eleven months old in this chapter.**

***o***

Eddie and Patricia had fallen into a comfortable habit of enjoying their weekends _calmly._ They spent every waking moment with Ava on their two days off, and it was generally nothing but smiles and cheerfulness. Playing games, helping her attempt to develop (or, really, begin) her vocabulary, and relaxing. Really, with Ava's easy nature (which Eddie knew wouldn't last for long, being her mother's daughter) their time spent with her was equivalent to time spent together, as a couple. She was always joyful, which made Patricia equally as cheerful, and Eddie even happier. It was the entire family's most look-forward to time of the week.

Except this weekend.

Neither Eddie nor Patricia wanted anything but to be back at work at eleven o'clock on Friday night. Their house was a wreck. Last minute Thanksgiving plans with his mother had driven them to near insanity. Patricia had spent her entire time since arriving home from work, doing last minute packing and going through Ava's room in search of any essentials she may have forgotten. Eddie, on the other hand had been sorting out ways to get them last minute plane tickets to America for the next morning. His initial plan had been to fly out the day before, but Patricia had had a meeting Thursday, and reminding him of that had caused enough stress for them. On top of that, neither of them was too interested in skipping in an entire week of work just so they would be in America next week for the holiday. It would be difficult to book a flight the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Ms. Miller had reminded them, and instead, she had suggested that they came roughly a week prior in order to ensure an actual, well deserved vacation.

And well deserved, it was.

Normally, if Patricia was running up and down stairs, spewing out curses under her breath at each forgotten item, and Eddie was having several heated arguments with employees from the airport, Ava would have been contently playing with her toys.

Unfortunately, for her stressed out parents, that wasn't the case tonight. No, Ava was growing in her third baby tooth, and none of her teething toys were amusing her enough to forget the pain. Furthermore, because she was so focused on absolutely nothing, she noticed her parent's odd behavior, and was immensely displeased by it. And everyone could hear it in her cries.

***o***

"I _still_ have a headache," Patricia whined, as she pulled her suitcase behind her, and lifted Ava up higher on her waist.

"So do I," Eddie reminded her in a sing-song voice, dragging the rest of their luggage behind him in the airport. At only seven in the morning, it was _packed. _But while that only made Patricia grumpier,Ava was completely content with people-watching. She had conveniently stopped complaining about her tooth the second that they had gotten to the airport, and that had only made _Patricia_ complain.

"I can't even believe that you dragged me here so early. I mean, seriously, we couldn't have a ten o'clock fight or something?" Patricia continued to mumble, letting out everything that she was annoyed by under her breath. Eddie didn't reply, not wanting to jump into an argument, but instead continued to lead them through the crowded airport.

It wasn't until they were sitting down on the benches near the entrance to their flight, did the "_awwws"_ about Ava's adorableness stop. The hundred people surrounding them knew that the baby would be on their flight, and honestly, no one seemed to be looking forward to it. On any other day, Patricia would have gladly spoken up about the new tension around her and the other passengers, but she knew that the minute they stepped on to the plane, Ava would start making noise again, and no one would be pleased about it. She was a Miller, and therefore; she was troublemaker.

***o***

The first half of the ride was absolute hell for Patricia. Her headache purely deteriorated, and Ava's restlessness was _awful_. Her many attempts to escape her car seat only failed because of how many times Eddie and Patricia were forced to fasten her in and distract her. She cried to get out, and when Patricia was kissing her head, and _trying_ to make her laugh, she was tugging on her mother's hair and kicking her feet as much as she could. Needless to say, Patricia's nap was well deserved. (And Ava's was absolutely necessary to her well-being as well as of those around her).

Eddie, who absolutely swore he was incapable of sleeping on planes, took up random activities here and there. He attempted to begin a work project that he was assigned for the weekend, but gave that up quickly. Not soon after, he opened a book that he had been attempting to begin for an entire month, and closed that almost immediately. Part of him wanted to wake Patricia up so that they could have a calm conversation without Ava's disruptions. Of course, though, she would have to kill him before they had any sort of conversation; calm or not. So, that idea was instantly out the window.

That left him rummaging through Patricia's carry-on bag, which was full of only items for Ava. He was surprised to find their very first parenting book buried at the bottom, since Patricia had given that one up instantly and moved onto another.

Honestly, though, they never really touched parenting books. They were handling parenting just fine on their own, thank you very much. Besides, both strongly disagreed with living their lives off of writing, and instead only looked up a few things every once in a while. This, Eddie figured would be a good time. He was careful to check over at Patricia every now and then (just to be sure she didn't wake up and publicly humiliate him for reading a pink parenting book) as he skimmed through sections. When he finally reached the area that they had been struggling with the most, he was careful to pick up on every detail.

He would never admit it to Patricia, but he was starting to worry over Ava's lack of speech. Call it his paternal instincts, but he felt that to have such talkative parents (and grandparents) she should have already been on her first sentence by now. Granted, she wasn't even eleven months old yet, and most babies begin develop an actual vocabulary around nine months, but Eddie naturally worried. He just had to. They had never done parenting before, and he couldn't help the pang of fear at the thought that there could be something wrong with her development of speech. She was always so happy; he couldn't stand to see something take that away from her.

***o***

Patricia loved Nancy Miller. As annoyed as she was over the extremities they had to go through to get to New Jersey, there was no denying that she was ecstatic to see her mother-in-law. From the start, Nancy had always been welcoming. Welcoming when Patricia visited over the summer in high school. Welcoming when she found out that Patricia was once again dating Eddie. Welcoming when they had to move in with her for a couple of months, straight out of college. Welcoming when Patricia officially became part of their family. And she was completely welcoming to Ava when she was first born.

Unlike Patricia's parents, who had pushed the need to see their grand-daughter before anyone else, and Mr. Sweet who couldn't seem to break an invisible wall of awkwardness between himself and his son, Nancy had quietly waited her turn, and then carefully taken Ava in her arms. It was then, watching her mother-in-law hold her newborn daughter for the first time, did Patricia realize that she was completely content with her family. She had issues with her own side, but, for the most part, Eddie's side of the family had let her in immediately. That was something that she had always appreciated, and that's exactly what she saw in Nancy Miller. Family.

Per usual, the petite, blonde woman was jumping in her doorway the minute their cab pulled up. Eddie flashed his mom his signature, award-winning, I'm-not-a-troublemaker smile as he got out of the cab, and offered Patricia his hand. With help from Nancy (After her ceaseless greetings and hugs, of course) the family was perfectly settled in, with their suitcases in the downstairs guestroom, and cups of coffee in all three adult's hands.

"So, your cousin will be here soon enough, and then I'm sure you'll happily help me gouge out the chicken for dinner." Nancy spoke the words so calmly, but there was an unmistakable hint of sarcasm etched in her soft voice. She smiled wider when Patricia let out a wet laugh. The red-head was easy to amuse, but clearly _not_ in the mood to do anything but rest. "Oh, Patricia," Nancy leaned over the coffee table and patted the British girl's knee reassuringly. "You look wonderful."

"Thank you," Patricia genuinely beamed, "so do you."

"Oh don't be silly," Nancy waved her hand in front of her face dismissively. "Age nips me in the butt every day." Eddie laughed dryly and then assured his mother that Patricia was absolutely _not_ lying.

"England's really done some great things to_ your_ character, honey," Ms. Miller joked. Eddie rolled his eyes at his mother, pressing on her knee lightly.

As promised, Eddie's forever boisterous cousin, Nikki, came bouncing though the door only two hours later, dragging her two tired kids behind her. Apart from her and Eddie's wedding, Patricia had never _really_ meet Nikki. They had exchanged a greeting, and made small talk that night a few years ago, but now that they had time on their hands, Patricia was eager to meet the other loudmouthed, red-headed Miller.

And she certainly did that. In fact, she found herself enjoying her meeting with Nikki more than she had expected to enjoy anything about their mini-vacation to America. Nikki was similarly as welcoming as Nancy, and made the atmosphere; drained out, upset, or dull, completely bright. In the few hours that they were provided to catch up, Patricia learned all about Nikki's children's photography business which was slowly beginning to become more popular. She used her two children, Maxxie and James, as her top models, and they were the face of all of her advertisements. After seeing a few sample pictures, Patricia understood why. The siblings both had their mother's frizzy orange hair, freckled covered cheeks, bright blue eyes, and joyful smiles.

On top of that information, both Patricia and Eddie were caught up on the divorce that Nikki and her husband, Mason, had experienced only two years earlier. They had known about it, but only the bare minimum. And now, finding it all out from Nikki herself, Patricia couldn't honestly understand why anyone would walk away from her. She was seriously, and Patricia swore to it, a mix between Mara and Willow. Two of her good friends, with amazing personalities, that worked utterly well together.

***o***

"Ready?" Eddie grabbed took both of Ava's smaller hands in his own to keep her steady on his chest. "_Da-da._" he enunciated each syllable, crossing his fingers that Ava would at least attempt to talk. Honestly, he didn't mind what she said first, but it wouldn't hurt if she said_ his_ name. Besides, it was either that or some other, unimportant word, but certainly not _ma-ma._ It was proven (as Eddie had happily rubbed in Patricia's face) that a baby is 97% more likely to say _da-da_ first became _d's _and _b's _are easier for them to pronounce.

"She's not going to say _da-da_ first," Patricia yawned as she rubbed her eyes and stretched. The guest bed seemed surprisingly much smaller since the last time they had stayed in it when they were fresh out of college. Now, it was much tinier compare to their king-size bed at home, and it wasn't nearly as appreciated as it had been during their younger years of uncertainty.

"You absolutely do not know that," Eddie shot back, much more awake than his wife. He hadn't voiced his concerns on Ava's lack of speech yet, and he wasn't ready to. There was no need to stress out Patricia; she was always on edge about everything and anything concerning Ava, and he knew he was just having his more common attacks of anxiety.

"I do too," Patricia laughed, sitting up and brushing the hair away from her face, and then placing a kiss on Ava's head. "She won't because she's _my _daughter and neither of us like you."

"Excuse you, Yacker, but you certainly had some other opinions about your feelings on me when – Ow!" Eddie looked up at Ava in shock as she giggled, pulling her hard, plastic toy away from where she had hit his nose. "That _hurt,_ baby girl." Eddie whined, throwing his head back on his pillow and restraining Ava from hitting him again.

"Eddie, you have her wrapped around your finger," Patricia complained, easing Ava's teething toy from her tiny hands. "You have to reprimand her or she's not going to understand the difference between right and wrong."

The minute that Patricia had unclasped Ava's tightly scrunched fingers from the green ring, she had burst into tears. In fear that they would wake up the rest of the house, Eddie shot Patricia a look and then stole Ava's toy back, instantly returning it to their daughter, who beamed in appreciation. Patricia sighed, knowing how spoiled Ava was already.

"I know." Eddie fell back on his pillow, letting out a dissatisfied groan. How was he supposed to yell at her when he was so worried about her?

***o***

"How_ is_ Eddie?" Nikki looped her arm through Patricia's and moved her coffee to her opposing hand. She would have asked her cousin himself, but he had generously offered (or more, been completely forced) to look after the three children for the afternoon, whilst the three girls enjoyed themselves in town.

"He did seem abnormally quiet," Nancy observed, taking a sip of her latte, and tightening her hold around Patricia's other arm. One thing about Eddie's family was that they absolutely didn't understand the first thing about personal space. Patricia had learned that the first time that she met the persistent American boy.

"He's… fine." Patricia frowned; he had been a lot quieter lately, especially around other people. "I'm sure it was just jet-lag last night," she assured her mother-in-law, "he's still the same annoying kid you raised." For a second, Patricia wanted to take her words back. Were they an insult? She had become a lot choosier with who to snap at, and Nancy certainly wasn't one of those people. She looked over at the blonde woman, who had a genuine smile plastered to her face, and relief washed over her. She shouldn't have been worried, after all. Nancy wasn't one to easily take offense. In fact, she tended to be the root of the endless teasing Eddie received.

"And how's Ava?" Nikki asked, turning to Patricia, with excitement in her eyes. It was no secret that the young girl had already melted her aunt's heart. With everything going on in Nikki's life, having a baby around the house for a week wasn't stressing her out in the least bit.

"She's doing really well." Patricia couldn't keep a smile off of her own lips while talking about _her_ daughter. So far, Ava possessed so many good qualities that her parent's adored bragging about. "We're really pushing her to begin a vocabulary right now," Patricia sighed. "She's been laughing _forever_ and makes tons of noises, tries to form letters; she just hasn't said an actual word yet." Patricia stole a glance at Nancy, trying to push her point of how annoying it was to work toward something that Ava was so close to.

"It'll be fine, dear," Nancy promised with a wink. "Eddie's relentless."

Patricia scoffed, taking a sip of her coffee. "You're not wrong."

"He wants her to say da-da first, yeah?" Nancy guessed, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Oh, yes," Patricia nodded in agreement. "I think he'd be devastated if she _didn't_."

"Devastated?" Nikki had a wicked gleam in her eye and a demonic smile on her lips. "This could be fun." She nodded her head, thinking over an accumulated plan.

"What could be fun?" Patricia pushed, looking over at Nancy, hoping to share the same confusion. They did.

"What if we _told_ Eddie that she said something else. I don't know; something stupid. Like – like poop!"

"Poop?" Patricia giggled, making Nikki blush profusely.

"Fine, whatever you want her to say. Just something pathetic, you know, to toy with his self-confidence and annoy him."

"Where have you been my whole life?" Patricia joked, leaning into the redhead's side as a sing of agreement. Nikki's idea wasn't even close to bad. In fact, it was _ingenious._

***o***

"Eddie!"

"Eddie, where are you?"

"Eddie, we have something to tell you!"

Patricia, Nancy, and Nikki had spent an approximate 20 minutes of alone time with Ava before launching into their well-thought out plan and darting upstairs, desperate to trick Eddie into thinking his quiet daughter had said something completely un-useful.

"Yeessss?" Eddie lazily opened the bathroom door where he had been getting ready for bed, pulling his shirt over his head, and running his fingers through his wet shower hair.

"Ava just said her first word," Patricia breathed, a fake smile on her lips.

His face lit up, and all three girls exchanged smiles. They were already experiencing difficulty at the strict rules to not laugh. "What? Patricia, did she say da-da?"

"Not exactly, Weasel." Patricia looked to Nikki, who had been given the task to come up with a stupid word on the spot.

"She said… dog!" Nikki blurted out.

"Wow," Eddie breathed out, looking down. He didn't want them to see how genuinely happy he was that she had actually said_ something_. "That's – that's actually great! Where is she?"

Patricia scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. They had all expected an extremely less excited response from him. He had seemed so eager to hear her to say his name first. So why was he acting this horribly happy?

"What? Doofus…" Patricia's voice quieted. Who was she to insult him? She already felt bad for pranking him. In high school, dumping a bucket of trash on his head was _hilarious,_ but, now, she was beginning to understand that this was a bit more serious of a joke.

"She didn't actually say anything," Nancy finished for Patricia, lightly.

"We were just kidding." Nikki added, carefully looking Eddie over, and trying to decipher how upset he suddenly seemed.

"Patricia," Eddie hung his head, and it was clear that they had gone too far. Although none understood _how_ far exactly. "…I need to talk to you." In a rush, he grabbed onto her wrist and dragged her to the nearest room, which happened to be the bathroom. "She didn't say anything?" Patricia shook her head; no, completely astonished by his reaction. Did he have _tears _in his eyes?

"Eddie, I'm sorry. We didn't mean to upset you, or anything. Maybe she actually will say da-da now. That's what you want, yeah?" Patricia ran a hand down his arm, but he shook it off, turning his back to her.

"I- I've had something on my mind recently," Eddie let out a shaky breath. It wasn't normal for him to get this upset, and he certainly had expected this conversation to break him down so much. It was obvious how much Ava meant to him. "Um, I'm worried about her... her uh, _speech_,"

"Wh- why?" Patricia stuttered, pulling him back to face her again. He wasn't crying, but he certainly wasn't completely stable, either. "Eddie, what are you so worried about?!" Patricia knew that Nancy and Nikki were bound to have their ears pressed against the door, listening in on everything, but she couldn't care less.

"How has she not said _anything_ yet?" Eddie ran a shaky hand through his hair, looking into Patricia's eyes. "She's _eleven_ months old Patricia. This was supposed to happen two months ago. I - we've never been in this situation before. I don't know what to do, and what not to do. I'm really nervous. Why hasn't she even said _dog_ yet? I wouldn't care at this point!"

"She – she just hasn't, okay!" Patricia had _not_ meant to snap. But how could he possibly want to worry her with this? She didn't need something to keep her up day and night, sick to her stomach with the thought of possibilities. "I – I don't know, Eddie," Patricia sighed, "I was wondering the same thing. I um, I'm sure there isn't anything to worry about."

Eddie sighed, attempting to regain his composure. "I'm not trying to worry you, I just had to get it out. It's been _killing_ me-"

"You're not worrying me. Promise." Eddie didn't shake her off when she tried to comfort him this time. "Let's give it a couple of days and then we'll look into it, yeah?" Eddie nodded, sleepily falling into her embrace. "I'm sure it's nothing to get upset over. She'll start talking soon and you'll wish she had never started," Patricia joked, running her fingers through his hair. He let out a noise, which sounded like a laugh, muffled by her shoulder. "It's probably stupid anxiety."

***o***

Eddie stayed up for hours that night thinking about the conversation he had had with Patricia, and not feeling comforted in the least bit. In fact, he almost felt more unsure about the entire thing. Throughout his fear over her not being able to talk, he had always assumed that Patricia would be equally as worried. Now, though, that he had voiced his fears,it didn't feel like she was on his side anymore. Maybe because she was right, and it was a stupid thing to obsess over, but he couldn't help it. It felt right to worry over Ava's every move. It made him feel like the dad that he had always wished his dad would be like.

Lying in bed, in the room underneath the one where he knew his mother was sleeping alone, he thought back to the conversation he and his father had had a few months prior. As reassuring as his father's words had been; expressing his love and remorse over leaving both Eddie and Nancy, Eddie continued to wonder. He pondered for the remainder of his time awake, if Eric had ever wrapped his arms around his mother, the way that he was holding Patricia. Eddie wondered if Eric had ever randomly decided to kiss Nancy one time. Had he ever felt such a strong pulse of love towards her that he planned one night to wake her up with a kiss the next morning? Did he ever break down in front of Nancy one time, not giving a crap about what she thought of him afterwards?

Mainly, though, Eddie wondered if Eric had ever spent careless hours tossing and turning, thinking about him. He wanted to know if his own father had ever looked over at the crib lying next to his bed, and feel love for the baby sleeping inside of it. He questioned if Eric had ever looked at Eddie, and worried about him, and his future, so much that it hurt.

Probably not, considering Eddie always seemed to do only want he wished his father had done for him. He wishes Eric had cried over his fears for Eddie, the way that Eddie had nearly cried over Ava only hours earlier.

***o***

Eddie loved waking up and having the crib right by his side. It made him feel content, knowing that Ava was safe, and happy to know that she was so close to him. Excitedly, he pulled himself out of bed, careful to not wake Patricia, and he picked Ava up, bringing her to his chest, and whispering happy good-mornings to his groggy angel.

It only took a few more minutes before she was pretty much well awake, and Eddie was able to sit her down on the ground. He rested his back on the end of the bed, and held onto Ava's hands as she started to move around in order to grab this toy, or that toy. When she was perfectly content with the selection of toys around her, Eddie held her up to him, staring into her sea-green orbs.

"I'm trying this one last time, baby girl," Eddie sighed, already beginning to give up. "_Da-da,_" He started at Ava, as she sat in front of him, chewing on her green teething ring. "Please say, _da-da_ for me, sweetheart."

Eddie was about to groan in disappointment, and worry all over again when he noticed her stop chewing on the green ring. Ava pulled her toy out of her mouth, looking at it for a minute, before staring up at her father. "Da…da," she repeated. Eddie looked at her in disbelief, his mouth agape as a giant wave of relief washed over him.

"Oh, my God, Ave!" Eddie took her by her middle grinning from ear-to-ear. "Say it again!"

Delighted by her father's over-joyed reaction, Ava let out a huge giggle, showing off her three teeth. She excitedly threw her toy in the air, giggling out another "da-da!" louder, and happier this time.

"I love you," Eddie gushed, kissing her chubby cheeks numerous times. "One more time," he insisted, knowing she would oblige.

And of course, being daddy's girl, she did. Six more times. (Each time, of course, Eddie promised her it would be the last). She didn't really mind, though, because saying an actual, put-together word was extremely exciting to her. And even more, she appreciated the attention that she received from it. It was easier to get Eddie to act like a giddy child than anyone had expected.

***o***

**A/N: Just tons of fluff! :) Sinfullysarcastic suggested Ava's first words being "da-da" and I sort of just threw everything else in there. Tell me what you thought! **

**I already have many exciting ideas and prompts for Ava's older years, so I'm looking forward to those, but for now I'm thinking about putting up a sequel chapter for this. I figured that I could squeeze in another fluffy chapter of Ava's first holidays. **

**Are you guys game?**

**I hope you enjoyed this! Love you all, **

**Grace **


	6. Chapter 6 - Spend Time With Her

**Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis**

***o*** _December 24, 2022 _***o***

There was evidently _something _about snow that delighted her husband and daughter beyond extent. Something that Patricia clearly didn't grasp. Ava's excitement was understandable; she had never before witnessed the brittle flakes dance to the ground, brush her fingertips, freeze on her tiny nose, or melt before her eyes. Eddie, on the other hand, had spent deathly cold January days bundled tightly in several coats, sledding down hills, building snowmen, having snowball fights, and drinking hot chocolate in front of a blazing fire, seated next to his mother. Patricia hadn't been deprived of these things either.

Despite popular belief, the red head and her family _had_ experienced such winters; long, drawn-out, perfect winters full of laughs and rosy cheeks. Still, the idea of snow didn't fascinate her. Perhaps it was because she couldn't expect much else, living in England her whole life, and Eddie, meanwhile, was still becoming accustomed to several snowstorms each winter month.

Therefore, Patricia was content with setting the final decorations on their tall tree, and wrapping the final gifts, while Eddie held Ava on his lap, both transfixed by the flurry flakes that were falling outside. Patricia was tired, and stressed, and for those reasons exactly, Eddie was being sure to keep her out of any conversation. Through the silence that had fallen over the household, Patricia could hear Ava's excitement every now and then. And regardless of her pounding headache, spinning with thoughts, or eyelids, drooping with fatigue, she couldn't help but smile. Shrieks of excitement were followed with the sound of Ava's hand pressing against the glass. She would peel her sweaty palm from the window every few minutes to look up at her father, or over his shoulder to Patricia, and cheer their names, pointing outside. She was being considerate, really. The only thing that she wanted was to make sure that neither of them was missing out on the most _exciting_ part of her day.

When she had finally put the tape on the final present that needed wrapping, Patricia felt like she was missing out on too much. Ava had slowly gotten just a bit more bored, and at the same time, had been continually attempting to get her mother to come over to join them. As badly as she wanted to rest before the Christmas Eve party that her parents were hosting in a few hours, Patricia couldn't help but join them in the living room after Ava's most recent "_ma-ma! Ook! Ook!"_

With a smile, she seated herself next to Eddie who wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Ava let out a delighted noise, and reached for her mother, who graciously took her into her arms. "_Ook, ma-ma!"_ Ava patted her mother's cheek and then pressed her forehead to the window, grinning widely.

"I see it," Patricia reassured, holding Ava's waist tightly, and leaning her head on Eddie's shoulder.

"I love you," He whispered, sending a shiver down her neck.

***o***

For the first time in a year, Patricia could wrap both of her arms around Eddie's waist, and he could wrap both of his around her, and neither of them was forced to hold Ava. It wasn't that the fairly new parents were thrilled about not having their daughter with them, but they had left her in the hands of Mara and Fabian, who were newly married, and both overly responsible. The only thing that bothered Patricia at all was that she was attending her parent's holiday party, and they had made it clear that children were not allowed whatsoever. Two years ago, Patricia would have been grateful for the rule; she wouldn't have wanted kids to attend a party designed entirely for anyone but them. But once she discovered that she was pregnant, and especially once Ava was born, the idea really stung. Why couldn't they accept their one-year old granddaughter into their home? In fact, she was so startled by the request to keep children out of the event, that for the first week, Patricia had refused to talk to either her mother or father, even to RSVP. She was even planning on going for longer, but her instincts told her that making her parent's upset wouldn't end well for her.

Then again, she didn't expect much less from them. They had had a few moments, but otherwise, they had never been family-oriented parents. Patricia still believed that they had never been planning on ever having her or Piper. But, whatever, it was too late to argue anything; her childhood, her parent's choices, or her agreement to attend the party. And besides, even though she didn't want to admit it, the adult environment was quite relaxing and relieving.

Eddie had recently returned to the living room with a glass of champagne for both himself and Patricia, and his arm had found her waist immediately. They had never, even when they were younger, been very into any sort of public affection. Eddie, especially, was being clingy tonight, and it took a little while for Patricia to get used to it. She briefly wondered if he felt like she never had time for him now, but she dismissed the thought. He would bring it up if it was truly bothering him. And besides, he certainly didn't seem to mind having an exceptional amount of time with Ava.

"You look great, by the way," Eddie pulled Patricia closer to his side.

"Is there something that you want to talk about?" She questioned, gazing down at her red, silk dress. That was the third time that he had commented on it.

"Nope." He shook his head, "I'm just feeling really... _calm._" Before she could question him further (although his answer was logical and reasonable) Piper approached them.

"Hey," Patricia blinked at her pregnant sister, two crab cakes in her hand, and one in her mouth. Had she looked this bad when she was pregnant, too? The old rumor was that women glowed when they were stuffing their faces and waddling, but Patricia fully understood now why that compliment had only ever come from Eddie. He was the one who had had to deal with her day in, day out during those nine months. She probably looked awful, and the sudden thought made her wrinkle her nose.

"Hi," Piper replied in between bites.

"Only two more months, yeah?" Patricia was trying to be positive, but then she remembered how much Piper did not want this baby. The information had been kept between only the two sisters; neither told their significant other, neither told their friends, and neither girl dared mention it to their excited parents. Jerald, Piper's husband, had just started another movie. They would be filming for the next eight months. He promised that being director wasn't going to keep him from flying back from California whenever he could to visit her, but Piper doubted his words. She knew too well that her son's first six months were going to be, for the most part, fatherless, and Patricia expected that she cried about it often. Her suspicion mainly came from the initial phone call at two in the morning from her depressed sister, when she was only a month into her pregnancy. Patricia had patiently sat on the other end of the phone for an hour, listening to Piper cry about it, and she finally began to understand things from Eddie's point of view. No matter how amazing the couple tried to make their life seem; it was completely corrupt. Patricia was extremely thankful for what she and Eddie had. They didn't have to be famous like her brother-in-law was aspiring to be. They were better off normal.

"Yeah," Piper sighed distantly. She didn't seem upset by the reminder of Jerald's absence, she seemed tired. "It would have been nice if they could have been born closer together, though. Don't you think, Trix?"

Did Patricia want Ava to share a birthday with her younger, richer, more perfect cousin?

No.

"That's only two weeks away." Patricia nudged Eddie lightly, speaking of Ava's first birthday.

"Ugh, she's so old," Eddie grinned, kissing Patricia swiftly. When they had pulled apart, Patricia noted the hint of sadness in Piper's eyes, but her sister didn't seem to _want_ to feel that way. She smiled along with them, and continued to act like she was excited to wake up in her large mansion tomorrow, completely alone.

***o*** _December 25, 2022_ ***o***

"Yay, Ave!" Patricia gathered the scraps of paper that her daughter threw on the ground as she tried to open up her next Christmas present. She had a smile glued to her innocent, chubby face. She would be asleep soon enough; all of the excitement was clearly overwhelming to her.

"What is it?" Eddie urged, casually draping an arm over Patricia. Ava looked up at her father with large, curious, green eyes, holding out her newest present. The final talking dinosaur, from Ava's collection of animals from her favorite show, was wrapped in a plain box. Pieces of snowman wrapping paper clung to the cardboard loosely, the tape connected to them beginning to die out.

"It's inside the box," Piper commented, reaching out, for the first time, to help her niece open up the gift. To Eddie, Patricia's sudden suggestion for Piper to stay over was surprising, and out-of-character. He assumed that Piper and Jerald were working their schedules out and would see each other; he hadn't expected that she was alone, and that Patricia had felt horribly bad about it. Regardless of how jealous she had always been of her twin, Patricia had to admit that she thoroughly enjoying the extra time she had to spend with Piper. And clearly, Piper was engaged too. Patricia hoped that this was going to make Piper feel more confident in becoming a mother.

When the final box flap had been lifted, and the tissue paper inside had been thrown anxiously out, Ava pulled the toy out hurriedly. She shrieked in delight, holding it close to her. It was amazing to Patricia, how even the smallest things could excite her daughter and keep her occupied for hours.

***o*** _January 5, 2023_ ***o***

"Are you one, are you two-" Amber stopped herself, realization sinking in, and she let out an "oh." Eddie chuckled before helping Ava blow out her single candle -before she spit all over the chocolate cake. Her mother's suggestion to not got out of her way for Ava's first birthday compelled Patricia to go over the top. She had invited their old friends from school, some family, and plenty of Ava's new daycare friends. Kids ranged between the ages of one and three, but none seemed to mind. They were happily playing with Ava's strewn out toys, and joyously smearing their hands into their pieces of cake, licking the mess from their fingers. More gifts (although what did a one year old _really_ need?) were piled where the family's Christmas tree had stood only days before.

Patricia looked around her home, glancing at the familiar faces of the people that she grew up with. The kids that she had known forever. Never could she have sat next to them during one of their infamous food fights, and imagined running a household, having a husband, and family, and being content. She would have laughed at the thought when she was only sixteen years old. Now that the first year of truly getting used to have a child had ended, though, Patricia was feeling grateful for what she had. She was looking forward for everything that was about to come their way. And she was no longer nervous about anything.

***o***

**A/N: I know that you don't want to hear a thousand excuses for updating, so I'll make it short and simple. Schedules **_**suck**_**. I'm sure that everyone can relate, so I promise that I **_**am**_** trying, and I will, hopefully, have more posted soon.**

**The most IMPORTANT thing that I have to say is; I am **_**changing**_** my username to "writtenbygrace". I have plenty of reasons. First off, it's been nearly three years and I'm sick of my username. Second, it really isn't personal in the least bit. Have I ever written a Fabina story? No. Third, I bet that most of you just realized that my username is x**_**FABINA**_**o. Yeah, I initially loved Fabina. I couldn't ever bring myself to write them, though, so…. There goes that. Lastly, I am hoping (once life is less hectic) to write from some additional fandoms. I don't know when it will happen, or how many of you will read my other stories, but I don't feel like an HOA name will be relevant or professional enough to draw new readers from those fandoms. **

**More news includes; I know that this chapter was pointless. I wanted to get something out there. Furthermore, I'd really like to transition away from Ava's baby years. I really don't do well with character's that barely talk. So, just be prepared for her to be older soon. I don't know exactly when, or how old, but she just won't be crawling.**

**Anyway, I hope to see you soon with the name **_**writtenbygrace**_**, and a story about older(ish) Ava.**

**I love all of your feedback!**

**Until next time, **

**Grace **


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